Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is reportedly preparing a major change in terms of branding, scrapping the codename "Metro", which was previous used to refer to the user interface text/geometry/color style found in Windows 8, Windows Phone, and certain company websites.

A leaked internal company memo mentions the decision being made after "discussions with an important European partner". One leading hypothesis is that German retailer Metro AG (ETR:MEO), which appears to control the EU trademark on the word "Metro", threatened to sue.

Regardless, Microsoft advises employees to "discontinue the use". As a stop-gap, the interface that shall not be named by its former name shall be called "Windows 8 style UI", according to Microsoft, until a more permanent name is decided upon.

The decision on the more catchy new name should come "by the end of this week", hopefully with a bit more trademark research this time around.

Metro is one of Germany's largest retailers.

The good news for Microsoft is that given the mixed press Windows 8's Metro makeover has received, changing the name may actually reduce public awareness of some of the harsher criticism of Windows 8, which largely comes from power-users and is of questionable applicability to the average non-enthusiast/non-power-user.

Then I'll chime in with him. I use the start menu quite often and am unwilling to abandon a part of an aspect[among the many others MS seems to be removing] of my computing life just because MS thinks it's not useful anymore. Rubbish.

I've tried the Consumer Preview version[arguably the better one] and the Release Preview. Neither one seems compelling enough to even consider using. Hell, I'd rather go back to Vista, because at least there are tons of customizations for it.

So while he and I don't speak for everyone, we are heralding the trumpet of warning. Windows 8 seems like it is going to turn out to be even more of a dud then Vista was. At least for the general desktop environment. Phones, it's passable, tablets, ok. But not the standard desktops/laptops arena.

So Bupkus feel free to enjoy Windows 8. Us power users will continue to sound off until MS goes the way of the dodo or pulls their head out and decides to listen to those whom help make or break them. Is it any wonder they have had their first quarterly loss in company history and well on the way to another even worse next?

Yea, you do know that what a Power User does depends on their field right? SO a lot of Power Users do use Windows because the programs and software they work on do not run on Linux. Linux is not the be all end all it has flaws, just as many as Windows actually, and will not work for everyone.

Most super computers use Linux, while none of them run Windows. Gamers tend to use Windows, but I'm not sure if I'd refer to those people as 'power users.'

Making a 3D movie? Pixar uses Linux.

Many casual computer users use Windows, but only use their computers for online purposes (Facebook, Gmail, etc), and are subjected to frequent problems with viruses, an OS which MS constantly bloats to force people to upgrade their computers (and subsequently purchase another Windows License). Linux, for most people, would do those things soundly without having to worry about viruses or hackers.

Be that as it may, I do wish Adobe would make their CS software work on Linux. :)

Windows accounts for something like 90%+ of the usage market share in the corporate/business world. You can make all the disparaging remarks about Windows and it's users being only gamers, but sorry, Linux is not highly represented among "power users".

quote: Making a 3D movie? Pixar uses Linux.

Pixar uses Linux for their clusters because they use customer software (Renderman Pro), but every other department and office is using Windows.

But we know this, Linux is great for special purpose built stuff. General productivity? Not so much.

quote: You do know what OS is on most Google employees PC's though, right?

I have several friends there. It is predominantly Macs (which is another flavor of Unix) and Linux over there. Same with workstations (not just renderfarms) at Pixar, it is mainly Linux with some OS X.

A lot of the high end tech world, at least here in California, operates on Linux. Almost all of my web dev friends develop on that and on OS X. With OS X you're in a native POSIX *nix environment, plus you have the added benefit of widely supported applications and being able to run any OS in a VM. Windows is used professionally, sure, absolutely, but "high end"? Not usually, not unless data entry 101 is considered high end.

What's really astonishing about Linux is how well it will scale from the Raspberry Pi to IBM's Roadrunner. I used it awhile back at work, and it was the machine that didn't require a harddrive reformat every few months. The worms that wormed their way into the network didn't harm it. The benefit to me was that I didn't lose any data, and the machine was always available to be worked on. Really the only thing holding me hostage to Windows is Adobe's creative software.

What I am hoping to see in the not too distant future is some smart Linux phones. I'd love to see a phone that has a feature like an SD card slot, an OS which can be changed (like on a PC).

Again, the idea that "high end" professional use is solely dominated by Windows is ludicrous. Can you imagine what an even bigger mess the financial markets would be if the exchanges ran on Windows instead of Linux?

Takin you're a vocal shill for Apple who's admitted he owns stock in the company. Your bias is well known, so we get it, okay? We get why you're saying the things we do, but numbers don't lie.

You can bring up all the myopic stories about you and your friends, or seeing a few MacBook Pros on TV (which COULD have Bootcamp on them, by the way), but numbers don't lie. Windows simply dominates business and corporate and any other segment when it comes to market share.

quote: Again, the idea that "high end" professional use is solely dominated by Windows is ludicrous.

Who said "solely"? I said MOSTLY, as in 90+%. You're the one being ludicrous here. The idea that Windows isn't dominating can only come from someone who's personally invested in this NOT being the case, ie. you.

quote: numbers don't lie. Windows simply dominates business and corporate and any other segment when it comes to market share.

Um, duh?

Like I said, of course Windows is popular, everyone knows that, having 90% of the desktop market is something any amateur knows.

When did I say that Windows doesn't dominate? Of courrse it is. The only case I'm making is that Linux and OS X desktops, as small as their market is, are prevalent in the high end and in mission-critical tasks.

quote: (which COULD have Bootcamp on them, by the way)

Really? What I saw on the JPL big board was some GNOME desktop. Do you really think that if JPL was running Linux on their PCs, that they'd be running Windows on their Macs?

quote: Who said "solely"? I said MOSTLY, as in 90+%. You're the one being ludicrous here. The idea that Windows isn't dominating can only come from someone who's personally invested in this NOT being the case, ie. you.

The thing you have to realize is that the bulk of that 90% is not in the high end. Well supported econoboxes is where Windows dominates. Call centers, data entry, etc etc, these are HUGE for Windows. The idea that Linux or OS X don't have a larger share of the upper echelon, let alone the bulk of mainstream web development, shows a huge lack of technical understanding on your part, not to mention a massive padding of numbers from tasks that are decidedly not "high end".

As someone said above, Windows by percentage is mostly a casual-use and gaming operating system, just look at how much of the mass market uses it. It certainly is for me; my DIY Windows PCs are strictly for gaming. My other machines are for work.

Google, VFX, design, and web developer examples aside, here are some quotes from another board on the Mars mission, responding to Windows white knights:

quote: I work at a National Lab and that's certainly not the case here. Sure, code gets deployed to server hardware once it goes into production, but almost everyone in the Scientific Computing group codes on Macbook Pro's. They're standard issue.

Another:

quote: My advisor in grad school was PI on multiple instruments, both in orbit around Mars and on the surface. In our lab the backend servers all ran linux, but Mac laptops were used for data analysis tasks just as often as the linux desktops were. Very few people ran windows.

In any case, the Linux/OS X bashing here is pretty silly. OBVIOUSLY Windows is popular and obviously it is a great platform for many to work on, I'll never deny that. I love Windows 7! However, there are benefits to Unix/BSD based operating systems that put them over Windows, especially for mission critical tasks. Would you really want a financial exchange running Windows on the back end?

I think you're confusing servers with power users. I've worked in the #1 producer of saw chain and also a top medical company. Neither used linux. ProE, Solidworks, Cadcam, Finite Analysis, programmers writing apps for the majority of the chain company etc, drug testing at the medical company, etc. All ran windows.

So in your mind the only power user is a NON HUMAN eh? Both companies ran their entire network on ...Wait for it...WINDOWS SERVER :) Linux, last time I checked only ran about 60% of the servers in the world. Translation, some 40% think windows is OK for mission critical company needs. Did you miss that? Or do you think they only sell server 2008 to home users running private web pages?...LOL. With a LARGE portion of the design community running Adobe CS suite on WINDOWS I think any claim that web people (google or not) use linux only is borderline ridiculous. Windows isn't just popular, it's used by the mass majority of users, power users or not. PERIOD. The numbers don't lie, as much as you'd like to believe they do. Dream on.

Tons of people use linux PURELY because its FREE. It has nothing to do with superiority. Since google HATES microsoft it's not exactly surprising they use linux heavily...ROFL. Well duh. Doesn't do you much good to fill the coffers of the enemy camp now does it? That would make google kind of DUMB ;) The biggest probably (IMHO) with linux is the 50 varieties, which is probably the biggest reason winblows succeeds. I work in IT and do NOT use linux. I have no use for it. Also I wouldn't even consider Mac OSX linux as nothing that runs on it runs on a REAL copy of linux. Do mac games run on redhat? Nope. Does mac Adobe CS suite run on ANY flavor of linux? Nope. Is a ford pinto the same as a porsche because they both have tires and an engine? NOPE. Mac OSX isn't linux in the same sense that a pinto isn't a porsche. They are all different operating systems, no different than these are both cars but VERY different cars :)

I have no intention of leaving America despite the fact that I think obama is a terrorist destroying our country from the inside. Another 4 years and he may get the job done completely (we can't afford another 6 trillion in debt, and I have enough trouble paying my own medical let alone forking over for 20million useless illegals). But until another country offers me something BETTER I have no intention of leaving. I'm using Winblows for the same reason. Let me know when linux offers me MORE and I'll be happily switching. I'm rooting for you, but don't hold out much hope I'll ever get to go on anything other than windows. Work and play for me come from windows...I have no time to learn something else just to call myself a bigger geek than I already am (and I don't think it makes anyone a bigger one anyway, it just makes you that much more useless in my world). I remind you that Macs have been hacked and infected if you think linux is immune...ROFL. Better networking? I'm remembering a blackhat conference that had a few guys hacking it in minutes (even as they said in the same breath, we can do windows just as fast...LOL). You're not special because you booted (or make a living from) linux this morning instead of windows...LOL. I digress...

PS...I hate windows 8, and have run it, will probably have to learn it more than I want and still believe it SUCKS. The only think I can say I liked about windows 8 is 4K native support. But I don't need to boot from a 3TB drive and both of mine work fine as data drives in winblows 7 :)...LOL@MS for trying to sell that crap to a "POWER USER" like me ;) XP64 still ROCKS! Plays every game I've ever thrown at it, runs with every product in my entire families PC's (all AMD/NV cards, all nics, Creative cards, loves my 16GB etc). I wouldn't even be running winblows 7 if I hadn't needed to support it in IT...No point other than work. Winblows 7 is SLOW compared to XP64 (I live in explorer, so 7 is just about useless without xyplorer/total commander). Damn 7 is always calculating or discovering something and wasting my time. Why can't it just copy/paste/move and shut up? Change for the sake of change is stupid. What kind of OS can't be used efficiently as a file manager? WTF? Seriously? Jumping folders? NO free space status displayed without properties or clicking computer? Just replace win7 explorer with xp's and I'll be seriously less stressed...LOL. Can't I just get an XP64 rev2 or something? Sell me xp with 4k native and DirectX 12...Done. Aero can't work in XP? BS! Not that I use it anyway. 20GB of space to do LESS and work SLOWER than I could with 2GB in XP64? Whatever...sensible rant over...Besides, it's 3:15am here...LOL.

In my experience, Windows 7 boots more slowly than XP. Trying to figure out where a newly opened window appears on the task bar is never fun (did the PDF open in a browser, or in Reader?). It regularly locks up when resuming. It's hard to tell where one window ends and another begins (I am often closing down the wrong window). It always asks stupid questions (are you sure you want to open this? Are you really sure? Double-extra-secret sure?). I am sure security is better, but that doesn't positively affect the user experience.

What is it then? As I understand it, it isn't simply an application you install. Is it like a web browser that you can replace with another vendor's version? I think many people would be interested if that were the case.

And yes, the diploma says Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.

PDF or other files opening in the browser will only happen if you have a plugin (or program) installed that does that and will always happen once you set it to do that (BTW the button blinks when a new window is opened). My computers come out of standby and hibernate with no problems at all every time, dunno what is wrong with you comp.

I'm not even sure how you can't tell what each window does so not even going to try that one as for the questions if you haven't noticed the average user isn't too bright so asking more than once is the best way to make them think if they want to open that file. As for the booting that depends on your computer and what you have starting up, on a more recent computer Windows 7 will be faster on a slower, older comp Windows XP might be faster but that isn't guaranteed.

In my experience, Windows 7 tries to group items by application rather than by any other type of association. If you open a Word document, it gets grouped with other word documents. This requires that you note what type of document you are download, whether that application is running, locate it, then look to the end of the segment containing those associated files. In XP, you could set it up to conveniently be located at the end. What is really frustrating is that some websites open another page that simply enables downloading (and asking 'are you sure') from THIRD window which contains the information requested. Managing all this poorly organized clutter is an unnecessary waste of time, in my opinion.

You call yourself a power user and you didn't think that search in win 8 makes a mockery of the start menu? The start menu is a search, six or so pinned programs and a hierarchical list nobody's used since vista. The start screen is a vastly improved search and much more pinned programs organized so they're about as easy to find what you want in. I was going to be sarcastic and say that the start menu is as outdated as the command line, but the latter hasn't been totally obsoleted for power users while the ability to hit five keys and have your chosen program open killed the usefulness of the start menu.

Saying you don't speak for everyone and then going on to start at statement with what I just quoted is sort of silly.

I for one will pick Win8 over Vista any day and I'm pretty sure the label "power user" fits me just fine. It's not that I am happy with Win8 but after giving it a real try I gotta say it is not all bad. Do I miss the Stat button and what sits behind it for sure but it's not like the Metro UI is useless just different and this is even using a keyboard without Windows keys (a Model M).

Luck has is that there's a great OS for you! It's called Windows 7, it's the best desktop OS I've heard and is tailored to suite your needs. See how easy that was. Win 8 isn't for you. It's for everyone else. Have fun.

Luck has is that there's a great OS for you! It's called Windows 7, it's the best desktop OS I've heard and is tailored to suite your needs. See how easy that was. Win 8 isn't for you. It's for everyone else. Have fun.